The Master of Darkness
by Malekith-the Witch King
Summary: A story about a dark elf's quest to save his wife and child from the clutches of the High Elves.


I would just like to thank Games Workshop for making such a great game and this is just a little something I made to express my appreciation for all the times I enjoyed using their products.  
  
Warhammer, Dark Elves, High Elves and all other terms having to do with GW are copyrighted yadda, yadda, yadda.  
  
I would like to dedicate this story to the guy that gets impaled from a lane. LOL that's funny.  
  
At first there was only darkness. It was a darkness that I have never witnessed or experienced. And to tell you the truth, I do not believe that anyone could experience such a vast expanse of nothingness. To this day, I have not been able to compose an explanation or description of it. It is impossible to do so as you could not describe in words the pain this darkness had brought me and at the same time the joy it gave me. And in this darkness, I saw, my wife, crying out for help, holding our son in her hands. And then I woke up.  
  
I looked to my right and felt secure to see my wife in the bed beside me, and my child, Modaq in his crib. I gave a sigh of relief, anyone who would hurt my wife or son would soon perish by my father's blade and now, I Darhythé Mylök, will use its magical properties to destroy my enemies. I am an Elf under the reign of the rightful ruler of all elvenkind- Malekith the Witch King. Many shudder at his name, all but a few who oppose him and soon they too are killed in the name of Khaine, our God. Anyway, I did not bother to go back to sleep as it was almost time to get up anyway. Instead, I got on my armor and battle equipment. Today my troops and I were going on an expedition of some unexplored lands to the south of my village and we had to go fully prepared if we were to encounter enemies. However, I was not worried as my troops were cunning and fared well in battle against enemy war bands many times.  
  
Then, I heard a scream, and a trampling of hooves in the street. My wife woke up and asked me what was happening but I just said, "Get your clothes on and get the baby. I'm going to see what happened. Stay here." I went to the front door and burst out. I did not see any horses or elves at all in the streets. However, I saw an old elf sprawled on the ground about 20 feet from my home. I ran over to him and as I got closer I saw a small pool of blood around his body and found the blood was coming from a lance wound in his chest. I bent down and asked him what had happened.  
  
"Horses," he said. "What?" I replied? "Elves. Horses." "What happened?" "White. Elves. Horses. Uhhhn."  
  
His head fell over and his eyes stared out blankly. He was dead. I turned back towards my house and started to contemplate what he had said to me. White elves on horses could only mean High Elves! The scum of the elven world were these High Elves. They are an army of great might and majesty, but flee like the cowards they are when faced with the strength of the armies of Naggaroth. High Elves had killed that old man, and according to him they were on horses meaning they had been Silver Helm Knights.  
  
At that same instant I heard the same rattling of hooves at high speed from behind me. I turned and saw a group of high elf cavalry. By instinct I quickly took out my two custom repeater crossbows I handcrafted myself for dual use and pressed the triggers; I had sent four mini barbed bolts and all of them hit the riders and horses alike with deadly consequences. Even though I had wounded many of them, some of them were still alive. They had managed to get through the barrage of bolts! I dropped the crossbows and reached for my father's enchanted Draich. However, I was too late. An elven steed had been able to get me in my head with it's hoof. Then, the familiar darkness inside my head came to me again as I fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
  
  
I was all alone, I could only see myself standing in the middle of the darkness, as if I was floating in space. However, an empty space as there was no stars, no shimmers of light from afar. Then, a black cloud started to rise up my body, like an immense snake holding my arms down like shackles in a dungeon. I tried to scream, but no sound came from my throat. I struggled to get free, but the shadow would just hold me down even tighter. Then with all my might, I screamed, "HELP!"  
  
When I woke up, I found myself in a dimly lit room. Just to make sure I was really awake, I pinched myself, nothing change, except that now my cheek hurt a little. I then started to take in my surroundings.  
  
I found that I was in a small bed without any of my clothes except for my undergarments. In the room were a batch of candles on a wooden desk and a bookshelf full of books of all shapes and sizes. On a chair beside the desk, my suit of armor was hung over it. I was about to stand up when I heard a voice, "Lie down, you still need much rest." I cautiously turned around and saw a female elf dressed in black, standing in the doorway. She was very beautiful, with silky, long, black hair going down past her shoulders. She also had very mysterious eyes which seemed to be dark tunnels which never ended.  
  
I soon realized that standing had caused a great amount of pain in my torso and my left leg. 'They must have been from the stampede.' I thought to myself. And I sat down in the bed.  
  
"Yes, you'd better sit down and rest, when I found you, your leg was broken and a couple of your ribs were broken too. However they have healed much since that day." She told me. My head was filled with so many questions about where I was and why I was there, however, I asked her, "How long have I been here, and, and who are you?" "Well, you have been here, in my home for a week. And I am so sorry that I didn't introduce myself at first. My name is Ferhaelia." "Thank you, for taking care of me and everything. I just want to know, when you found me in my village, was anyone else there?" "Oh, I am dreadfully sorry, but I have heard in the news that your town was pillaged by the High Elves and everyone was taken to Ulthuan as hostages. You are very lucky to be alive!" "I'm sorry, but I must leave at once to look for my wife and my son!" "Wait," the elf called, "your dreams, I can help you overcome the dark." "How did you know about my dreams?" I replied, shockingly. "I know many things, and I can help you harness the dark energy for your own use," she told me, "You are the Chosen One. The prophecies speak of your coming. In the writings of the dark prophet Kolath Julix: The elf with the dreams of darkness shall become the master of darkness to defeat the race of the elves in white. You see, you are the one to fulfill the prophecy, and I shall see to it that you become as fierce a sorcerer as you are a warrior." Her offer did sound pleasing as if I learned how to harness the energy, the dreams would go away and if the prophecies were true, if i didn't, the rest of the dark elves. However, if I learned this art, precious time would be taken away from me. But I do not think I can win without a bit of help. "I'll do it," I told her, "Teach me how to harness the energy within me."  
  
Throughout the next week, my mind went through some serious training; I never thought it would be this hard to be a sorcerer! Throughout my training, I had to focus on the darkness within me and Ferhaelia taught me spells from Dark Elf magic lore called the Dark Art. I had heard that every elves of all kinds have the great potential of magic in themselves, but only those which are gifted are able to wield it in the form of spell casting. Throughout the two weeks she taught me about the dark arts, I had learned many things such as how sorcerers could use talismans, and arcane artifacts to help them enhance their powers. I learned how to concoct power stones and dispel scrolls. As I went on in my training, I learned more powerful spells and in my final days of staying in Ferhaelia's home, I could call upon powerful daemons to unleash their fury unto enemies and could kill a man in a matter of seconds. And unbelievably, not once while I was being taught the dark art had I had another dream about the dark.  
  
After I was done all my training and Ferhaelia thought I was a very skilled warrior-mystic. I told her, "Thank you, Ferhaelia. You saved my life and now you have just taught me how to use magic, I am forever in your debt. I will always consider you as a close relative and a good friend." "You have been a worthwhile student and a good companion. I was happy to have someone in the house to talk to. I also have to give you something before you go." Ferhaelia went into her own room and within a couple of seconds, she came back out with a staff. "This is a legendary staff which has been in my family for generations, I won't be needing it and it looks like you will, so I want you to have it. It is called the staff of Darkness." Ferhaelia handed me a staff made of black quartz and gold entwined in a spiral, at the tip there was a ruby which glowed intensely. As soon as she handed it to me, I could feel a surge of power flowing into me from the staff. It made me feel stronger, quicker and brave. It also made me feel stronger in a different type of way. Ferhaelia then said, "Oh, can I just show you something about that?" I handed her the staff and she started to look for something on the staff. "Here it is!" She pressed on the staff and out shot a spear point, dripping with some kind of fluid. "Amazing!" I exclaimed. She told me, "The poison on the end is the most powerful poison in the world which can burn through all armor. Well, I have no use for it and it looks like you shall need all the help you can get, Chosen One." She said as she retracted the spear tip and gave the staff to me. "We will meet again at the turn of the tide."  
  
Over the next few weeks, I had managed to gather many Dark Elf warriors who gladly joined the cause, mostly because it involved killing. Just a couple more things and I would be ready to rescue my wife. First I went to the nearest temple of Khaine and asked the great Hag there if her coven would be able to join my army in an attempt to rescue the hostages from the High Elves. She replied, "Against High Elves, eh? We shall be there." As I walked out, I was practically skipping with joy, witch elves were a very valuable tool in an army, with their poisoned blades and the fact that they become frenzied is a very good combination. Once in battle, i witnessed a unit of frenzied witch elves charge into a unit of Orc Warriors, kicking up dust behind them on the way. When the dust had cleared, all the witch elves were still running and there was a giant heap or orc corpses on the ground. I was also hoping that they would bring an assassin or two and possibly an altar of Khaine, but I couldn't ask the hag because it is not proper to do so.  
  
I was now ready for the battle. Scouts had been sent to Ulthuan to find out where the hostages were being held and when they got back and told us where they were, everyone got on a Black Ark to Ulthuan.  
  
When we got there, a High Elf force was waiting for us, however we were prepared. Massive bolts and barbed arrows fell all around us, as we made our way forward. One of the reaper's bolts had managed to go through a full rank of High Elf cavalry, and the bodies looked like. The remaining knights turned tail and fled, as they were too afraid to go any farther. I then wanted to try my spells as I have never actually tried them on people, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. With my staff in hand, I called upon Nagaelythe of the Utterdark and cast the spell against a unit of High Elf Archers. A ghastly apparition appeared before the archers and, frightened for their lives, they started to run away. The spirit plucked them up, one by one and slaughtered five of the High Elves, and the rest of them fled from the battlefield for being so frightened from the many casualties.  
  
As I looked to my left, I watched the unit of Cold One Knights charge into a unit of spearmen. As you probably know, Cold Ones are like giant lizards which us Dark Elves have learned how to ride on. They are very powerful creatures and are very frightening. And unfortunately for the High Elf spearmen, they started to run away from the charge, but the riders and Cold Ones proceeded to chase them down and killed all of them.  
  
I could tell we were winning the battle, and wanting some hand-to- hand action, I ran towards a unit of High Elf spearmen which were already trying to hold their own against my corsairs. As I was running towards them, I unsheathed my Draich and in a fury of rage I began to decapitate spearmen left, right and center. In my rage, I had managed to kill 7 of the High Elves and came out of the combat unscathed. I thanked Khaine for the quality of my father's magical weapon. Three of the High Elves I had managed to kill had been only scratched! As the rest of the spearmen fled, I felt a great magical power in the vicinity. I turned to the left and saw a High elf lord on top of a gigantic white dragon. I was not afraid of the sight as I could easily face him in hand-to-hand combat and he would not be able to counter my spells. I then sheathed my sword and brought out my staff and whispered, "Croesh." The true name of the serpent God, I knew now that it would be much easier for me to finish him off as this makes the victim writhe in unbearable pain. However, I felt the spell dissipate into nothing. I knew that this would have to end with a fight. I called to him, "Come here, you coward!" In response, the Dragon he was riding swooped down towards me. I then jumped up as high as I could, put the end of the staff on his chest and pushed the button. As the spear tip shot out, I heard a scream of pain from the lord and as his body fell from the Dragon, I heard a gasp from the high elf warriors. All of the High Elves started to run and were caught by my men and were slaughtered. We had won. I had managed to use my arcane magicks to control the dragon the elf lord had been mounted on and under my influence, the white hide of the dragon began turning to grey and then to black. The delicate horns and teeth grew to immense size and sharpened to a crude point. Dark elf runes scribed themselves onto the dragon's wings out of thin air, and at that moment, I knew the dragon was my loyal ad faithful pet. I released the spell and as I walked closer to the dragon, he bowed his head so I could mount him.  
  
With me riding my black dragon, which I named Ferhaelia, none of the High Elf defenders could hold against the might of my army. Eventually, I found where the High Elves had been imprisoning my dear wife and son and my army ventured to the town.  
  
A huge battle ensued, however, as the High Elves were unprepared for my army's onslaught, we slaughtered them quickly and mercilessly. I freed my wife and my son and the other dark elves which had been taken. I was so happy that I had reunited with my family. My army would have gone deeper into High Elf territory, but with the helpless dark elves we just rescued, myself and my most trusted advisors decided that we should return home and after much rest and with the help of Malekith and his great army, we would attack the armies of Ulthuan and reclaim our rightful throne.  
  
The next month I was back in my home with my wife and my son. We began to fix up the house as the High Elves had left it in ruins. I could finally sleep at night again, without worry. And that night I had a dream. It went something like this:  
  
Again, I saw myself, surrounded by the darkness that was coiled around my body. However, it then started to slither off of me and I stood up and raised my arm. The darkness came up and formed into any shape I pleased and I knew that I was truly now the Master of Darkness. 


End file.
